Texans notes: Schaub continues to evolve as starting QB

Published 6:00 am, Monday, November 2, 2009

Kudos to Schaub

More evidence of how Matt Schaub has evolved in his third season as a starter could be found in his recovery from the two interceptions he threw in the first quarter.

“I told him that after a team starts a game like this,” coach Gary Kubiak said, “there's only one player who can bail it out, and that's the quarterback. You got to let it go and play lights-out from here on out, and that's what he did. He's got that poise about him. I'm very proud of how he handled the team.”

Players feel for Daniels

Tight end Owen Daniels' teammates felt terrible for him after they learned he's probably gone for the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.

“It's tough, real tough,” receiver Kevin Walter said. “I feel bad for him, as hard as he was working, as good a year as he was having.”

“Owen Daniels is as special an NFL player as there is, and he's one of my best friends, so I feel terrible for him,” Dreessen said. “If he can't go any more this season, I've got to step up and make the plays he makes.”

Easy come, easy go

Jacoby Jones lost a 68-yard punt-return touchdown to a penalty last week against San Francisco, and his 70-yard first-quarter return Sunday was trimmed to 52 because of a holding call on Zac Diles. But Jones was philosophical.

“It's just guys trying to get down there to protect me,” he said. “We got to fix it and move on. I told (Diles), don't worry about it. Just keep working.”

Jones also pulled down a 36-yard reception to the Buffalo 10 that set up Kris Brown's third field goal. Despite all the fourth-quarter fireworks, it was the Texans' longest play of the game.

“I let coach know at halftime I (could get open) on that route because the safety was coming real hard,” Jones said. “We dialed it up and it was wide-open.”

T.O. takes blame

Buffalo's Terrell Owens blamed himself for letting cornerback Jacques Reeves break up a pass in the corner of the end zone that, had Owens caught it, would have given the Bills a 14-6 halftime lead. Reeves got a hand on the ball as Owens reached for it.

“That one was knocked out,” Owens said. “I had (Reeves) beat, but when I looked up it kind of went into the sun a little bit. I couldn't see so I put my hand up and that keyed the defender to shoot his hands through there. I felt like it should have been a touchdown.”

Reeves also made a pick — the first by a Texans cornerback this season — on a ball intended for Owens.

Kicked hard

The Texans came into the game leading the NFL in kickoff-return coverage, but that was one area in which they struggled against the Bills.

Buffalo's Fred Jackson averaged 35.6 yards on his five returns, with a long of 71.